Harrisburg murder-suicide stemmed from domestic dispute

A normally quiet block in Harrisburg, rattled after gunfire rang out right on a neighbor’s front porch around 6:30 Thursday night. “I was trying to decide a sit...

Author: Ashley Paul

Published: 4:32 PM EDT October 12, 2018

Updated: 4:32 PM EDT October 12, 2018

A normally quiet block in Harrisburg, rattled after gunfire rang out right on a neighbor’s front porch around 6:30 Thursday night.

“I was trying to decide a situation that would cause gunshots because I didn’t think there was any criminal activity that went on around here,” said Tom Little, who lives on the block.

Two men are dead, and police are now calling it a murder-suicide.

They say 29 year-old Daniel Finkel showed up to the North Second Street home and shot 38 year-old Jeremy Cadwallader on the front porch, before running to the sidewalk and turning the gun on himself.

“Apparently this all stemmed from an incident that happened on the West Shore. It was domestic related. Mr. Finkel had some type of disagreement with a female that became physical on the West Shore,” said Captain Gabriel Olivera with the Harrisburg Police Department.

According to court documents, Finkel and his girlfriend had a fight earlier in the day.

Finkel allegedly shut her hand in the car door and picked her up and threw her to the ground.

He told police he was trying to move her out of the way before driving off.

The girlfriend told police she was afraid Finkel was going to kill her.

Police say Finkel was charged in that incident, and was released.

He returned home to find that woman moving out, and Cadwallader was helping her pack her things.

That’s when police say Finkel told them they were going to die.

“So you believe he showed up with the intentions of killing them?" Fox 43 asked.

"It appears that way, yes,” said Captain Olivera.

Police say they don’t think there were many words exchanged prior to the gunfire, and the woman was able to run away unharmed.

“We were eating dinner and had our kitchen windows open because it’s still warm, and it was quite loud,” said Little.

Neighbors say police told them fairly quickly they weren’t in any danger, but after something like this, it may take time before things get back to normal.

“Well it’s almost back to normal, but there’s a bit of a dark cloud hanging over. I mean, you feel bad for the people involved,” said Little.

Police say the investigation is nearly complete, but will still take tips from witnesses or anyone who might know anything about the situation.